Qantas ups the ante on inflight entertainment

This month, Qantas customers on Wi-Fi enabled domestic flights will be able to watch their favourite shows, avoid missing out on live sport and listen to almost any song they like, with Foxtel, Netflix and Spotify coming on board to provide content in 2017.

Qantas customers will be able to enjoy video and audio streaming when the service is switched on on its first domestic aircraft in late February this year, with the rest of the airline’s fleet of domestic Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft to follow from mid-2017 onwards.*

The faster connection speeds – which enable streaming – are made possible through the nbn Sky Muster™ satellite service and represent a significant upgrade over older satellite technology accessed by most airlines around the world. The service uses idle data capacity, with the signal reaching the aircraft as it flies through the satellite’s 101 spot beams across Australia.

While Foxtel, Netflix and Spotify are all paid subscription services, they will offer free access to Qantas customers on and off the aircraft for between three days and one month after their Qantas flight.

Specifically, the deal will include:

Foxtel will offer three days’ free access to its Foxtel app every time a customer flies, allowing customers to stream live sports, news and TV shows, as well as its full range of on-demand content. No sign-up to a subscription is required.

Netflix will offer new customers access to the entire Netflix service as part of a 30-day free trial. Existing Netflix members only need to log in to continue watching at no extra charge.

Spotify will offer a 30-day free trial of its Premium music service, which has no ads, shuffle play and unlimited skips.

(Note – both Netflix and Spotify require customers to sign-up to a subscription to access the free trial.)

Qantas will continue to enhance its inflight offering and is in discussion with a range of content partners on ways to improve the on board experience using Wi-Fi.